NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed in afternoon trading on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 recovering from a three-day string of losses that was its worst since November 2011.

The benchmark S&P has fallen in five of the prior six sessions as investors became concerned about the impact of global economic weakness on U.S. earnings and the potential spread of Ebola.

“At some point in time the market shifts its focus from the global macro to the micro and that is where we are today - we are looking at this on a company-by-company basis,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.

Citigroup, up 2.7 percent to $51.26, was among the top boosts to the benchmark S&P index after the bank posted better-than-expected quarterly results and said it would pull out of consumer banking in 11 markets.

JPMorgan Chase shares lost 0.7 percent to $57.78, after the biggest U.S. bank reported a lower-than-expected third-quarter profit. Wells Fargo, the fourth largest U.S. bank, lost 1.1 percent to $49.65 after its results.

The S&P financial index gained 1 percent. Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors were in positive territory, led by industrials, up 2.1 percent.

The S&P 500 index on Monday closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since Nov. 16, 2012, and is now 5.6 percent below its record closing high on September 18.

S&P 500 companies are expected to show earnings growth of 6.4 percent in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, with 4 percent revenue growth expected. After the close, Dow component and chipmaker Intel is set to post results.

At 1:58 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 72.76 points, or 0.45 percent, to 16,393.83, the S&P 500 gained 12.28 points, or 0.66 percent, to 1,887.02 and the Nasdaq Composite added 31.79 points, or 0.75 percent, to 4,245.45.

The largest percentage gainer on the S&P 500 was Delta Air Lines, up 5.5 percent, while the largest percentage decliner was Gilead, down 3.5 percent.

Advancing issues were outnumbering decliners on the NYSE by 2,107 to 924, for a 2.28-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,826 issues were rising and 828 falling for a 2.21-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 10 new 52-week highs and 23 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 19 new highs and 145 new lows. (Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)